One of the more bizarre parts of Stephanie Grisham’s new tell-all concerns the musical Cats.

The Trump White House press secretary makes some serious claims in the book, including sexual remarks the former president made about a young press aide that apparently Grisham tried to keep away from him.

There is also, according to the New York Times, this weirdness:

At one point, she writes, Mr. Trump’s handlers designated an unnamed White House official known as the “Music Man” to play him his favorite show tunes, including “Memory” from “Cats,” to pull him from the brink of rage.

Presumably Trump was listening to the version of “Memory” sung by Betty Buckley, who played the role of Grizabella when the show debuted on Broadway. Her version of the hit song was played at multiple Trump rallies. Both Buckley and Andrew Lloyd Webber wanted Trump to stop it, and Buckley in particular said late last year, “It makes me angry every time I see it… The song is about connection and compassion, a cry to remember connectedness and unity. That’s what so upsetting about his campaign using this song. They are the antithesis of empathy and compassion.”

So she naturally had some thoughts on this bizarre new claim from Grisham:

Indeed…this would be my mission. https://t.co/alysjxnDGK

— Betty Buckley (@BettyBuckley) September 28, 2021

And Buckley was far from the only one taken aback by this news:

now just thinking about Trump humming along to “Jellicle Songs for Jellicle Cats” https://t.co/MdhjT8cKC4

— Matt Berman (@Mr_Berman) September 28, 2021

I covered Trump rallies for a year and despite everything else, the constant inclusion of “Memory” from Cats in the rally soundtracks struck me as the most bizarre element of the entire spectacle https://t.co/tZjh8UgnIZ

— Jimmy Jenkins (@JimmyJenkins) September 28, 2021

“The film adaptation of ‘Cats’ was widely considered to be a critical and box office failure. But it held the key to understanding America in the Trump years. In this essay, I will…” https://t.co/UvhBO0AXkR

— Mike Madden (@MikeMadden) September 28, 2021

this guy, he comes up to me with tears in his eyes. big guy, straight out of central casting. and he says, sir, sir, well i never. was there ever a cat so clever as magical Mr. Mistoffelees

— Dave Itzkoff (@ditzkoff) September 28, 2021

Ah, I see the problem here. Rodgers and Hammerstein are the antidote for brink of rage, NOT Andrew Lloyd Webber. If only they’d asked https://t.co/8vdI9o2V4V

— rosanne cash (@rosannecash) September 28, 2021

Trump tearfully lowering the nuclear football as Grizabella saves us from nuclear armageddon for the fifth time in 2019 https://t.co/X3Qn8pIBLz

— JP (@jpbrammer) September 28, 2021

Big Gorilla Channel energy here https://t.co/oNftuFKsbF

— Ben Jacobs (@Bencjacobs) September 28, 2021

The post A White House ‘Music Man’ Would Play Trump a Song from Cats to Calm Him Down, Stephanie Grisham Claims first appeared on Mediaite.

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